PPA Today: PPA Charities Archives

Recently in PPA Charities Category

Everyone knows you need to pack comfortable shoes when you come to Imaging USA. But this year the good people at PPA Charities want to remind you to pack a few more pairs--all for a good cause!

Bring Your Party Shoes--PPA Charities Boots & Bling Celebration (Sat. 1/31, 8 - 10pm)The festivities start the night before Imaging USA opens with the PPA Charities Celebration. Kick off your week in good spirits and come enjoy the fun and browse the PPA Charities auctions. This is open to any Imaging USA attendee.

Bring Your Old Shoes--PPA Charities Shoe Drive for Dando Amor
Your old shoes can be upcycled to help those that have none!Bring an old pair or two to Imaging USA and they'll be re-purposed for orphanages in South America and Africa. Handy drop-off bins will be located by the Expo entrance and by the registration kiosks.

Attention all
Imaging USA attendees: In the spirit of the holidays, PPA Charities will
support the Dando

Amor Charity
and hold a shoe drive at Imaging USA this February in Nashville! There's no
better cure for those inevitable post-holiday blues than doing something to
give back to communities around the world.

Some of the logistics: Drop off
bins will be located by the convention floor and at registration. Shoes will be
collected at Imaging USA, and re-purposed for orphanages in South America and
Africa.

Are you looking for ways to be more charitable? This
is an opportunity to truly make a difference in people's lives. It seems small
in scope from where we sit--in front of computer monitors, on a staircase changing
a flash, in a car wading through rush hour traffic, but Dando Amor has a global
reach and will have a positive
effect on communities around the world. All it takes is five minutes and a
little bit of kindness to rummage through your closet and find old shoes that
you'll never use again.

Think of it
this way: If everyone brought one pair of shoes, we would have 10,000 pairs of shoes
to donate. That's an inspiring number and one that is totally attainable with
your help.

It all started on Feb. 4, 2005, when Maddux Achilles Haggard was born with a condition

called myotubular myopathy. He couldn't breathe, swallow or move on his own. On his sixth day, his parents, Mike and Cheryl, made the decision to take him off life support. But first, they asked photographer, and then PPA board member, Sandy Puc', to take black-and-white portraits of them with their son before and after they took him off life support.

Four months later, Puc' received a call from a client's sister who was having a baby under similar circumstances. However in this instance, the hospital didn't tell the family their baby wasn't going to make it. Puc' talked with Cheryl Haggard afterword and expressed her guilt that she wasn't able to give this family her best and most professional images because the family wasn't told. It turned out that Haggard too felt guilt--that she had these professional images and other families had a Polaroid or cell phone image at best.

And it clicked--they decided to turn grief into passion and love and formed Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS), named after the children's bedtime prayer. Within six months the PPA affiliate had over 2,000 volunteers. Now as it approaches its tenth year, NILMDTS annually serves tens of thousands of families, providing over $5 million in services per year. What started as a grassroots movement in Colorado now reaches every state in the U.S. and is present in 42 countries worldwide.

At first weary that the photographers were taking advantage of grieving parents, hospitals now refer to NILMDTS volunteers as "the angels" because of the work they provide. Staff at partnered hospitals is trained to mention NILDMTS if a situation arises where the infant isn't expected to survive, and in other cases, the families themselves will reach out. According to co-founder, Sandy Puc', 60 percent of requests come from hospitals while the other 40 come directly from the families. The work is done completely on a volunteer basis.

"Our photographers pack their bags and go to the hospitals for free," said Puc'. "They don't promote their own business--they represent the organization. There's no money exchanged, but the value to these families and the world is tremendous."

As the organization has grown, NILMDTS has become a recognized part of the grieving process.

"These families go to the hospital super excited with a diaper bag and painted nursery back home, and they leave with "how to grieve" literature--that's it," said Puc'. "They don't know how to prepare or how to grieve."

My enthusiasm is ramping-up
for Imaging USA 2014. Trish and I got our official badges in the mail today. Eeeek!

It's hard to believe that
this time last year I was dreaming of ways to fake-illness myself out of the
trip to Atlanta for Imaging 2013. In my very first post for this blog, I
confessed my panic and nausea induced by a stalled cash flow and floundering
business. Thankfully, my business partner Trish dragged me kicking and
screaming out from under the covers of my fake sick bed to IUSA 2013 and it
profoundly changed...everything.

I once heard Trish say, "A problem shared is a problem
halved." That's been true for
us so far. Sharing our problems, exposing our soft underbellies and swallowing
our pride opened us up a support system of expertise, good will, and creative
inspiration from PPA.

Writing about our woes
started out as an experiment. I've been chronicling
our trials and tribulations here for nearly a year and it's helped me foster a
new way of looking at my business and my life. The experiment would either end
in total failure with me at my new job as a sectional saleswoman at the local
furniture store (love me a sectional) or it would end in success with "Bright being the new Bleak" when it
comes to the future of Snap!. Sharing mistakes has also taught me to see
inspiration for success in the most ridiculous, outrageous and mundane places.

Take for instance, when
Queen Latifah called us recently. Queen Latifah is only (according to Google
and um, the rest of the world) the very coolest singer-songwriter, rapper,
actress, drop dead gorgeous model, television producer, record producer and
talk show hostess. Not to mention she's considered one of hip-hop's pioneer
feminists.

So, the phone rings the
other day and it's Queen Latifah (in the interest of full-disclosure it was
actually a lovely woman named Chelsea who works for the Queen Latifah show, but
close enough).Chelsea was looking to get permission to use a photo from our Pinterest
page pinned by one of their upcoming guests. You may have heard about this couple
in the news, Ryan Leak and Amanda Roman. Ryan planned an entire wedding from Amanda's
"My Dream Wedding" Pinterest page. A photo we had taken of earrings
was pinned by Amanda and used by Ryan in creating their wedding. Ryan proposed
to Amanda, she said yes, and then they had the wedding all on the same day.

We had a nice chat with Chelsea
and were about to hang up when she said something really momentous. She said, "Congratulations
on your life." Chelsea wanted us to know she had spent a lot of time on
our website and was really impressed by the photography but was even more
impressed by the passion and zest we have for what we do. Gosh, Chelsea (a.k.a.
Almost Queen Latifah) that was awfully nice of you to say. Lightning bolt
moment: It's important to remember that a bad day for us doing this is better
than a lot of people's best days at work.

Other times the inspiration
for success comes from humbling places. One of the goals we set for ourselves
at Imaging 2013 was to get involved with PPA Charities' Operation Smile. We
were moved to action and tears after attending a PPA Charities party at Imaging
and listening to all the wonderful people involved with Operation Smile speak.
We had no idea then that we would get so inspired... really inspired... to donate
all we could to Operation Smile.

The more we read about
Operation Smile, the more we watched the videos of the children whose lives had
been changed by Operation Smile, the more we wanted to do. One day we had an idea
to donate the amount of one surgery ($240) for every wedding we booked. When
given here and there, the $240 was hardly missed and before we knew it, we had
booked 28 weddings and donated $7,487 (and counting), making us the Top Studio
Donor in the country for the year.

I hardly know how that happened;
after all, we don't have a fancy studio. We are just two ladies plugging away
here at my house in my spare room. Sometimes it's a struggle to make ends meet,
but I've never missed a dime of the money we've given to help children in need.

In the course of a year, it
turns out that I shared my problems and halved them too by reaching out to PPA
and asking for the help we needed. Ironically, what has really reenergized our
business hasn't been what we've taken from PPA but what we've given back. It
turns out that Joy shared is Joy doubled.
I'm thankful to be doing what I do every day knowing that I'm pleasing my
clients by involving them in an uplifting charitable cause. Sharing our passion
for photography and the joy of our good fortune makes a bigger impact than I
could have thought possible a year ago.

I hope you are considering going
to Imaging USA 2014. If you are struggling like we were, don't crawl under
those covers, share your problems and halve them! Reach out and get a little
help. Things will turn around. Once they do, remember what Almost Queen Latifah
said, "Be grateful for the life you have."

You're doing what you love! Once
you're feeling good and joyous about how lucky you really are, start spreading
the joy and love around. PPA Charities' Operation Smile is a great place to
start. Remember, bright is the new bleak.

David Grupa, President of PPA Charities (PPACH), has announced that for the ninth consecutive year, PPACH will sponsor Family Portrait Month in October and November. This popular charitable marketing promotion provides PPA members with an opportunity to participate in a nationwide promotion that benefits Operation Smile and elevates the business image of participating studios.

"Family Portrait Month allows PPA members to take part in a high-profile promotion to build family portrait business in October and November, the perfect time to remind families to have their portrait made in time for the year-end gift-giving season," Grupa said.

"Few gifts are appreciated as much as portraits of family members. And when they participate in this promotion, families are making it possible to truly change the lives of children who would otherwise face a lifetime of pain and rejection."

Participating studios are asked to donate at least $30 to PPA Charities for each family portrait session occurring during October or November. Other than this guideline, members are free to decide how much to contribute -- an entire session fee, part of a session fee, a percentage of each sale, or a specified amount of $30 or more. To date, PPA Charities has donated more than $570,000 to Operation Smile, the highly regarded International charity, which is the charitable partner of PPACH.

Interested PPA members can register for the promotion by making a $30 minimum donation for which they will be provided with the following marketing resources:

•Access to a private Facebook Group, where members can ask questions and share ideas with other promotion participants.

•Access to a library of promotional suggestions on the PPACH website: www.ppacharities.com.

•A listing, by state and city, on the promotion's consumer website, www.familyportraitmonth.com, which allows consumers to find participating studios in their area.

For each $240 donation that a participant makes to PPA Charities on behalf of Operation Smile in 2013, the photographer's name will be entered into a drawing for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to photograph an Operation Smile mission. This drawing will take place at the PPA Charities Celebration on January 11, 2014, the evening before the opening of Imaging USA in Phoenix.

Founded in 1982, Operation Smile is a worldwide children's medical charity dedicated to helping children and young adults born with facial deformities. In as little as 45 minutes, one cleft lip surgery can change a child's life forever at the cost of only $240. Each year, more than 100,000 children are born with a facial deformity in Operation Smile's 26 partner countries. Tens of thousands remain untreated, and at least 10% of these children will die from malnutrition or bacterial infections.

"Recording the smiles of children and their families is what photographers do," says Richmond, Virginia, photographer Mary Fisk-Taylor, fundraising chairman for PPACH, who was instrumental in developing the Family Portrait Month promotion. "It's hard to imagine a more appropriate charity for our members to support. And when parents participate in Family Portrait Month, it's a wonderful way to teach children the value of reaching out to others. Even small children can understand the importance of Operation Smile's work, and they are eager to help these needy children."

"You can't put the dollars before the heart. The heart has to come first and then the dollars come later." - Ziggy Marley

Trish and I were tired when we stumbled into the PPA Charities event at Imaging USA. We wanted to hunker down in our hotel room that first night but the excitement to meet our SMS mentor, Mary Fiske Taylor, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, ABI, API, was enough motivation to get us out the door and downstairs to the party. Well, that and Trish insisting I get my lazy butt out from under the covers.

We arrived just before Ann Monteith, M.Photog.Cr.Hon.M.Photog., CPP, ABI, API, A-ASP took the podium to talk about PPA's involvement with Operation Smile. Although we didn't know a thing about Operation Smile before her talk, it took only a few minutes for her to move us to tears. As she spoke about the lives of all the children that had been helped, Trish turned to me and said, "You know we're here for a reason don't you?" I smiled and nodded at her uncanny ability to read my mind. There was no question that we would be involved with PPA Charities, the only question remaining was how.

PPA Charity's Operation Smile is a fabulous idea, but seemed more suited for portrait photographers with studios. How could we as wedding photographers tweak the idea to work for our business model? Trish and I wracked our brains, but nothing seemed to quite make sense; kids, dogs, families? None of these traditional ideas fit our brand or, for that matter, our expertise. One of the wonderful things about Operation Smile is that it creates buzz and attracts potential future clients for the portrait photographer as well as contributing a nice donation for Operation Smile. We needed to figure out a way to make it work for us too. And then as usual being the idea girl, Trish came up with a brilliant plan.

Instead of children's portraits, we would offer professional headshots for...wait for it...all the other wedding professionals in our market! That's right, florists, caterers, wedding planners, etc, etc. Who doesn't need a fabulous headshot for their website, Facebook page, or heck... even dating site? In another stroke of genius, she decided we should host the event at one of the high-end venues in our area, and they happily and generously agreed to do it. Not stopping there, Trish asked some of the vendors to donate floral arrangements, sweet treats, and stationary to our "Smile Shop," hoping that participants might pick up a "goody to go" as a way of generating more money for the event. She even asked a friend and local videographer to film the event and make us a little documentary (below) to share with other photographers in the future. Trish was off and running with her idea, and I steered clear of her brainchild given that after my fear of heights, my second biggest fear is that I will throw a party and no one will show up.

Congratulations to the winners of the first annual PPA Charities Portrait Awards! These photographers joined in the effort to raise money for Operation Smile via the Celebration of Smiles Day nationwide fundraiser, and the images that they created were definitely applause-worthy. Check them out!

Whoo-hoo! Held during April and May, the first annual Celebration of Smiles fundraiser raised quite a sum. A total of 129 PPA members donated over $46,500 to benefit PPA Charities' charitable partner, Operation Smile!

"These funds will go a long way toward meeting our 2012 goal of raising $100,000 for this wonderful organization," says PPA Charities President Mary Fisk-Taylor. As of August 1, PPA Charities' 2012 fundraising total stands at $72,180.

Let's put that in perspective. What does this money actually mean? Because Operation Smile's medical professionals and support staff volunteer their services, it costs only $240 to provide a simple cleft lip surgery to a child in desperate need. In other words, the funds raised by PPA members so far in 2012 mean that over 300 smiles will be saved! Now THAT's something to smile about.

Celebrating Smiles Now & Next YearThe 2012 Celebration of Smiles Day promotion offered consumers a mini session and a 5x7 professional portrait in exchange for a donation to Operation Smile of only $24. So for every 10 sessions photographed by a participating studio, another smile could be saved by the volunteer professionals of Operation Smile. The official date for the event was April 21, but studios that had commitments on that date were allowed to conduct the fundraiser on alternate dates in April or May.

Next year's Celebration of Smiles Day is scheduled for April 6, 2013. PPA members who participated this year will automatically receive information about the 2013 fundraiser. Others who would like to participate in 2013 should email PPA Charities Executive Director Bert Behnke.

Now, before you jump to the next news bite, join us in a big round of applause for PPA Charities and all the kindhearted PPA photographers who participated in the 2012 event. Top donors were Ryan & Erica Manthey of Pure 7 Studios in Florida, who contributed a whopping $3,813. In addition, the following Top 20 donors contributed between $1,440 and $600:

Ryan & Erica Manthey - Pure 7 Studios, Miramar Beach, FL

Laurie Weaver - Treetales Photography, Austin, TX

Tara Olsen - Tara Rochelle Photography, Santa Clarita, CA

Jeff Ebert - Ebert Studio, Oak Park, IL

Susan Hoermann - Evergreen Studios, Austin, TX

Vicki Hultsman - Seasons Photography, Rice Lake, WI

Krish & Mark Kiefer - VIP Gallery, Waconia, MN

Zaida D. Parkes - Parkes Photography, Stratford, CT

Meredith Wilcke - Meredith Wilcke Photography, Winter Park, FL

Lauren Vicars - Portraits by Lauren, Plano, TX

Wendy Waddell - Wendy Waddell Photography, Marina del Rey, CA

Tanya Boggs - 255 St. Phillip St., Charleston, SC

Damian Battinelli - Damian Battinelli Photography, Plattsburg, NY

Charlotte Bowles - CLB Photography, S. Attleboro, MA

Larry Lourcey - Lourcey Photography, Plano, TX

Clark Sanders - Clark Sanders Photography, Inc., Cherokee Village, AR

Courtney Trembler - Soul Focus Photography, Salem, MA

Paul & Julie Wood - Paul Wood Photography, Slidell, LA

Meggan Harper - Meggan Harper Photography, Ormond Beach, FL

Melanie Anderson - Anderson Photographs, Hagerstown, MD

Trusa Patel - Luce Photography, Southlake, TX

PPA Chairman of the Board Don Dixon and his wife, Charlcey, show their support for PPA Charities' Celebration of Smiles Day.

Celebration of Smiles is PPA Charities' newest fundraising event (April 21), where you can help raise money for Operation Smile while increasing your community's awareness of your business. To help you make the most of the event, PPA Charities is supplying predesigned marketing materials, an entire marketing guide, and weekly countdown emails to keep you on track.

And if you don't register now, you'll miss out on the first of those helpful countdown emails!

As soon as you register with a simple $25 donation, your studio name and website link will be placed on the Celebration of Smiles consumer website. Within a week, you will receive that Celebration of Smiles Marketing Guide that takes you step-by-step through how to market, prepare for and execute your promotion, along with predesigned promotional elements and materials you can use to market to your clients and prospects.

What's more, you can participate in the PPA Charities' Portrait Awards to win great prizes and recognition, exclusive to Celebration of Smiles participants. Plus, you might even win the opportunity to document an Operation Smile Mission!

Register and learn all about Celebration of Smiles--and why it's such a worthy event--by visiting ppacharities.com.

Only PPA members are invited to participate in this charitable, promotional event. Not a PPA member? It's easy to join at this link: ppa.com/joinppa.

Whether you are an old hand at charitable marketing or want to get started but don't know how, now's your chance! PPA Charities, in association with Marathon Press, offers the perfect opportunity to gain new clients and repeat business through a brand-new charitable marketing event. As a PPA member, you can participate in "Celebration of Smiles," set for April 21, 2012. (Or choose another day that works for you.)

What It IsParticipating photographers will host an event where clients donate a minimum of $24 for a portrait mini session and desk-sized portrait, and 100% of donations go to support Operation Smile. This worldwide children's medical charity (focusing on facial deformities) can perform a surgery for as little as $240. So, for every 10 sessions a studio photographs during this Celebration of Smiles event, one child will receive the life-changing gift of surgery.

Think how many smiles you could help save by joining in this one-day event! Think how your name recognition and repeat business could grow! (Plus, you might even win the opportunity to document an Operation Smile Mission!)

Get InvolvedRegister with only a $25 PPA Charities donation, and you'll receive . . .

The Celebration of Smiles Marketing Guide that takes you step-by-step through how to market, prepare for and execute your promotion. (You'll also get predesigned promotional elements and materials for marketing to your clients and prospects.)

Your studio name and website link on the Celebration of Smiles consumer website.